Reminiscing Anil Kumble's Top 5 Performances

Broken jaw didnt deter Kumble from taking Lara’s wicket in one of his most memorable spells

Anil Kumble turned 45 yesterday. One of India’s most potent gifts to cricket, let us look back at 5 of his top performances for the country.

10/74 at Ferozeshah Kotla

At the top of our list is Anil Kumble’s 10 for 74 vs Pakistan at the Feroz Shah Kotla, delhi. India suffered a heart breaking defeat in Chennai against their arch rivals in a nail bitter at Chepauk. The team needed a win desperately to level the to match series; chasing a massive total Pakistan made a strong start to their second innings Shahid Afridi and Saeed Anwar were batting courageously, but on came Anil kumble’s magical spell in the afternoon. He took all of the Pakistan second inning wicket and single handedly took India to a victory it was only the second time in test history that a bowler had taken ten wickets in an innings.

6/12 in Hero Cup Final

It was the final of the Hero Cup at Eden Garden, Kolkata in 1993. Chasing a modest total West Indies were going smoothly, on came Anil and changed the face of the match, he took 6 for 12 – best figures for India at that time. He got wickets of Hooper, Holder, Adams, Cummins, Benjamin, Ambrose out of which four of them were bowled. His magical spell ensured that India lifted the 1993 Hero Cup.

12/16 at SCG

In what was Steve Waugh’s last test, the Sourav Ganguly led Indian team was hoping to win a series down under. Sachin Tendulkar 241 in the first innings helped India to take a massive lead. Anil Kumble took 12 of the 16 Australian wickets that fell in the match. Although Australia were lucky enough to get away with a draw Kumble bowled his heart out in the middle and helped India retain the Border Gavaskar Trophy.

3/48 in 1996 World Cup QF

1996 World Cup quarter final against Pakistan, another must win for the team and Kumble can up with a super performance with bowl, his 3 for 48 in front of his home crowd was good enough for India to see them through the semis. He as India’s go through bowler through the competition and took wickets regularly, sometimes coming in the first 15 overs of the innings in which only two fielders were allowed outside the 30 yards.

6/72 at Multan

In Early 2004 India toured Pakistan, Anil Kumble had good performances in all the test but his 6 for 72 in the second innings of the first test in Multan was a stand out, it helped India to gain a much important lead in the test series in the absence of team captain Sourav Ganguly. In the end India won the series 2-1, winning the last test match in Rawalpindi where Kumble again proved his mettle with the ball in a must win match for India.